[EmailPoster]

I just attended my yacht club's opening day ceremony....

Originally Posted by strataland

I just attended my yacht club's Opening Day ceremony. My patriotic
family noticed that our yacht club burgee was flown higher than the
American Flag. The yacht club burgee is flown from a separate halyard
and flag staff than the American Flag. When viewed from the yacht club
facilities, the American Flag is on the right. When viewed from the
water, the American Flag is on the left. Is this proper protocol? With
an 85 year history and with hundreds of traditional and loyal veterans
in our club, it is difficult to think that we may have been
unintentionally disrespecting the American Flag. I would greatly
appreciate your thoughts. If we are not following proper protocol, could
you provide me with a reference point to which I could refer my club
officials? Thank You!!

[sarahw]

Hello,

I actually can't find any reference to which "right" is right when you might be approaching a flag from two different directions. I think the right way would be to have the American flag on the right from the perspective that it is most commonly viewed, but you could argue either way when people are approaching first in their cars and later in their boats.

But it seems to me if most people come upon the flags first from the land side that your club is right to have the flag on the right from the point of view of the facilities. In any case I don't think anyone's going to call them unpatriotic because the flag can't always be on the right from every point of view.

As to the issues of the burgee flying higher than the flag, the U.S. Flag Code says that no flag should be higher than the U.S. flag, whether it is on the same halyard or a different one. (This is in section 175, subsection F.) And the American flag should always be raised first and lowered last. I hope this helps!

Sarah

[YCofficer]

A yacht club flagpole is representative of the flag configuration on a ship. The pole that comes out at an angle is called the gaff. It represents the stern of the ship. If you stand under the gaff and look at the main pole, port is on your left and starboard on your right. Remember, the bow, stern, port and starboard never change on a ship regardless of your orientation. Once you grasp this concept, the ensign is flying from the stern, just as it should by tradition hundreds of years old. The burgee flies from the masthead. Flags such as SOPA, Commodore, VC Commodore and Rear Commodore fly from the starboard spreader. Fleet signals such as race postpone, report ashore, etc. fly from the port spreader.

[sarahw]

Thanks for the clarification!

Sarah

[YCofficer]

BTW, the question periodically arises within our membership of what flag should be where on the flagpole to acknowledge the death of a member.

As covered in other forums on this site as well as numerous other web sites, the ensign should remain at the block (i.e. fully raised).

We fly the club burgee at half-mast the first full day following the death of the member. The day of the funeral/memorial service, the club burgee remains fully raised. We fly a small burgee on the port spreader. Under this burgee are the code flags for the member's initials. At the end of the day the burgee is taken down, framed and given to the family of the deceased.

[jandjkern@aol.com]

Originally Posted by EmailPoster

I just attended my yacht club's opening day ceremony....

What is the proper crossed burgee protocol when a yacht club hosts a challenging yacht club. Crossed club burgees are to be placed on caps, shirts, jackets and other items. Does the host burgee go on the right or left side of the crossed burgees? If anyone knows, what is the logic for the positioning of the burgees?